Omaha World Herald's All-Nebraska Volleyball Team

Check out the Omaha World Herald as they published their All-Nebraska JUCO Volleyball team and four Cougars made first team.

Sabina Piegza was tabbed the captain of the team in leading the Cougars to a 42-4 record and a third place finish at the national tournament.

Other Cougars on the first team include outside hitter Kaleinani Kabalis, middle hitter Paulina Piegza, and libero/defensive specialist Cami Weimer.

The whole story is at the following link:
http://www.omaha.com/article/20091231/SPORTS09/712319797/-1/sports09

OWH Junior Colleges
• OH: Riley Callan, Central CC, So.
• OH: Erica Brown, North Platte CC, So.
• OH: Kaleinani Kabalis, W. Nebraska, So.
• OH: Ashley Wurdeman, Central CC, So.
• MB: Brandi Dye, North Platte CC, Fr.
• MB: Paulina Piegza, W. Nebraska, So.
• MB: Carly Morehead, Southeast CC, So.
• L: Cami Weimer, W. Nebraska, So.
• S: Sabina Piegza, W. Nebraska, So.
• Honorary captain: Sabina Piegza, Western Nebraska Community College
• Honorable mention: Abby Houghtelling, Vonnie Fredrick, Tasha Poppe, Central; Joanna Bryant, Ariel Dunker, McCook; Alexa Hopping, Shaylee Salyards, RyAnn Spady, North Platte; CeCe Catlett, Monica Shaw, Southeast; Brooke Blomenkamp, Kuulei Kabalis, Ariel Austin, Kathryn Stock, Western Nebraska.

WNCC falls to Indian Hills on New Year's Eve

OTTUMWA, Iowa -- The Indian Hills Community College men's basketball team remained unbeaten at home on the last day of 2009 as Warriors handed the Western Nebraska Community College men a 75-55 loss Thursday night in Ottumwa, Iowa.

The Warriors used a 7-0 run in the first half to bolt to a 36-26 halftime lead in securing their 15th win of the season. Indian Hills is now 14-0 at home.

WNCC coach Russ Beck said what killed the team the most was 12 first half turnovers and, he said, you can't do that against a team the caliber of Indian Hills on their home court.

"The first half we had 12 turnovers and that was a big negative. We did a poor job in taking care of the ball. They climbed in us and they were really physical and we were not getting the calls that we thought we should have," Beck said. "However, in the second half, we only turned over the ball seven times and shot 11 of 12 from the free throw line and 15 of 21 overall."
Beck, who was an assistant coach under Indian Hills coach Jeff Kidder when they were at Dixie State College, said these games should get them ready for the second half of the season.

"It is a tough place to play. They are now 14-0 at home and they had a good crowd," he said. "The game was delayed because the referees that were suppose to referee the game we not notified of the game time change, so they had to call some local people. We had to wait around for that and that was a little bit of a momentum killer, but I still thought the guys played pretty hard and competed real hard. They [Indian Hills] capitalized on our mistakes and they knocked down quite a few threes, especially late in the shot clock."

The Cougars never could find an answer to a hot-shooting Indian Hills team. The Warriors blistered the nets for 51 percent shooting, while the Cougars managed just 35 percent shooting on 17 of 48 shooting. The Cougars connected on six 3-pointers in the game, including a trey by freshman Joe Stock at the end of the first half to cut the deficit to 10 points.

WNCC couldn't find an answer to stop a sizzling-shooting Warrior team as Indian Hills ran off seven straight points to open the second 20 minutes. The Cougars managed to slice the lead to 17 points on several occasions, but Indian Hills always had an answer.

Beck said the good news from the first 15 games is that they played some tough competition which should help them during the second semester.

"We played a tough pre-season schedule. Sheridan is in the top 25, Indian Hills started the year off in the top 25, CEU is one of the top teams in Region 18. we played some good teams and I think this experience will benefit us as we into region play now. We are going into the season where everything matters. Up until to this point, it is to prepare us for conference play and eventually the conference tournament. We are hoping we have toughed up by playing in some tough environments and against some tough teams. I think we are learning."

The Cougars placed two players in double figures. Francisco Cruz had the hot had leading both teams in scoring by pouring in 18 points, including two 3-pointers. Brylle Kamen also netted double figures, scoring 12 points, including two 3-pointers.

Indian Hills had five players net double figure scoring. Brian Wilson led the way with 15 points followed by Larry Stone and Aaron Austin with 12 points each. Dijon Farr finished with 11 points, while Dwan McMillan had 10 points.

WNCC, 10-5, will now be off 15 days before its next competition when they travel to southern Colorado to take on Lamar Community College and Otero Junior College Jan. 15 and 16.

"We are going to utilize the time off and practice and try to get better and get the guys back in shape," Beck said. "We came back from Christmas break a little out of shape and a little rusty to come out to a tournament and play two teams that are powers nationally. It was big to bite off, but this will get them ready. We will get in the gym and work on some things that we need to work on an get ready for conference play."

WNCC (10-5) 26 29 -- 55
Indian Hills (15-4) 36 39 -- 75
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Francisco Cruz 18, Brylle Kamen 12, O'Rion Hughes 8, Geddes Robinson 8, Geoffrey Firmin 5, Joe Stock 3, Saul Torres 1.

WNCC men pick up 10th of the season by dropping Olive-Harvey

OTTUMWA, Iowa -- The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team put together a solid defensive game and snapped a three-game losing skid in routing Olive-Harvey College 85-50 Wednesday in the final day of the Courtside Classic in Ottumwa, Iowa.

The Cougars, in picking up their 10th win of the season, was challenged by head coach Russ Beck to hold their opponent to 50 points or less. They not only did that, but they put up 85 points themselves and all 10 players suited up scored.

"They scored 27 points in the first half and only 23 in the second half and I told the guys that typically as teams start to wear down, they will score more in the second half. But every guy for our team really got after it and our team defense was pretty good."

The one thing that the Cougars did well for a second straight game was limit their turnovers. Against Mineral Area on Tuesday, the team committed just 11. Against Olive-Harvey, the Cougars had just 12 turnovers.

"They took care of the ball for the second night in a row," Beck said. "But, we didn't shoot great from the free throw line -- we were 16 of 25 -- and that is something we will have to correct for us to have a chance to win tomorrow."

WNCC vaulted out to a 50-27 halftime lead and received plenty of support from all 10 players on the team.

Francisco Cruz paced the Cougars for a second straight night, finishing with 19 points, including four 3-pointers. Geddes Robinson also pitched in 16 points, while O'Rion Hughes had 12 points.

WNCC will look to finish off the 2009 with a bang when they take on Indian Hills Community College on New Year's Eve at 4 p.m. Beck and Indian Hills coach Jeff Kidder go back a long ways as Beck was a student assistant under Kidder when he was the head coach at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah.

"They [Indian Hills] have great tradition and great history. They have not lost on their home court all season," Beck said. "This is a program that everybody knows about. They won three consecutive national titles from 1997-99.

"Ironically enough, coach Jeff KIdder at Indian Hills was my very first boss when I started coaching college basketball. He is the guy that gave me my big break that allowed me to get into this coaching fraternity. They are a very good defensive team and have several guys that can shoot and score. "

Indian Hills defeated Olive-Harvey 100-62 on Tuesday and were playing Mineral Area Wednesday night. Mineral Area defeated Indian Hills 68-64 in double overtime on Nov. 21. Going into the Mineral Area contest, Indian Hills was 11-0 at home.

Beck said he hopes his team can finish the year off well.

"We are going to try to end the year on a high note," he said.

Olive-Harvey 27 23 -- 50

WNCC (10-4) 50 35 -- 85

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Geoffrey Firman 5, Andre Marone 3, Saul Torres 8, O'Rion Hughes 12, Joe Stock 5, Mateus Chaves 6, Francisco Cruz 19, Brylle Kamen 6, Ritchie Mundende 5, Geddes Robinson 16.

--

WNCC falls to Mineral Area 81-77

OTTUMWA, Iowa -- The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team fell short in their contest with Mineral Area Community College Tuesday night at the Courtside Classic in Ottumwa, Iowa.

The Cougar men, 9-4, fell to the Park Hills, Mo., school 81-77 in the first day of the New Year's Eve tournament in a game that WNCC coach Russ Beck said they should have one. WNCC, after trailing 36-32 at halftime, held a 10-point lead with 10 minutes left in the contest.

" One of the frustrating things about our game tonight was we were up by 10 points with about 10 minutes to play and then we had a few turnovers and missed the front end of one-and-ones and when that happens, the lead evaporated pretty fast."

The Cougars had three players that were near the 20-point mark in the team's first game since Dec. 5. Francisco Cruz had 22 points, including four 3-pointers. Brylle Kamen and Geddes Robinson each pitched in 19 points.

The difference in the game was free throw shooting where the Cougars were 14 of 24 from the line.

"The problem was we missed free throws and we missed the front end of two one-and-ones late," Beck said. "The other thing that caused us troubles is that we missed six point-blank putbacks or lay-ups. I felt like we left 20 points on the floor."
The one thing that Beck was pleased about was the team committed just 11 turnovers against a team that pressed them the whole night. Beck also said that they did a good job on Mineral Area's leading scorer, who was averaging 17 points a game. He only had 12 points, including three at halftime.

MIneral Area held a 36-32 lead at intermission. The Cougars played the 13-2 Mineral Area team even in the second half as each team scored 45 points. It was the Cougars third straight defeat after running off nine consecutive wins.

The Cougars will have two more games in Ottumwa, Iowa, as they face Olive-Harvey College out of Chicago today at 3:30 p.m.. They then will face Indian Hills on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Beck expects a stiff test against Olive-Harvey, who was leading Indian Hills by 25 points at one time on Tuesday night.

"I watched them play Indian Hills tonight and they have a bunch of inter-city players from Chicago," he said. "They don't have a lot of size but they are really scrappy and play really hard. I expect them to come out and play tough against us tomorrow."

WNCC (9-4) 32 45 -- 77

Mineral Area (13-2) 36 45 -- 81

WNCC

Geoffrey Firmin 6, Saul Torres 1, O'Rion Hughes 5, Joe Stock 3, Francisco Cruz 22, Brylle Kamen 19, RItchie Mundende 2, Geddes Robinson 19.

EIchler succeeds at Tulsa in volleyball

Former Cougar volleyball player Jennifer Eichler was named the Conference player of the year for Tulsa University. Rad the story about Eichler in the Rapid City Journal at http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/sports/article_6ffbfecc-f273-11de-9603-001cc4c03286.html

EIght Cougars earn all-region honors for women's soccer

Two WNCC women’s soccer players made all-region first team for the past season.
Sophomore Mid-fielder Jamie Gastelle and sophomore forward Ana Jacobo each earned first team honors.

Six Cougars earned second team all-region honors. They include freshman goalkeeper Jessica Taylor, sophomore forward Keah Brost, sophomore mid-fielders Taylor Johns, Brooke Dudley and Jessica Arreguin, and sophomore defender Shawna Michealis.

Laramie County, who defeated WNCC 4-3 in penalty kicks to the Region IX title, had seven first-team selections and just one second team selection. LCCC’s Michaela Boyd was the player of the year, while Amanda Halter was the freshman of the year.

The complete list is LCCC’s Emily Michna, Michaela Boyd, Stephanie Zamora, Kelsey Gapter, Jessica Harris, Amanda Halter, and Melissa Ledesma; WNCC’s Jamie Gastelle and Ana Jacobo; and Western Wyoming’s Jessica Himelright, and Darian Mochizuki.
Second team honors included WNCC’s Jessica Taylor, Keah Brost, Taylor Johns, Jessica Arreguin, Brook Dudley, and Shawna Michaelis; Western Wyoming’s Alyssa Moreno, Brittney Hayden, and Liz lsraelson’ and LCCC’s Kelly Parkhurst.

Kabalis, Piegza earn NJCAA first team all-American honors

Western Nebraska Community College’s volleyball players Kaleinani Kabalis and Sabina Piegza capped off their volleyball careers by picking up some well-deserved honors this month.

The two sophomores recently were named first team All-American by the National Junior College Athletic Association. It was the third time in the last four years that the Cougars had two first-team all-Americans.

“I think it means we are starting to build a good tradition for the program and the school,” head coach Giovana Melo said. “We have had a lot of success with the players that come through our program. I mean, look at what happened this weekend with a former player [Fatima Balza] winning a national title for Penn State.”

Kabalis, from a 5-9 hitter from Hilo, Hawaii, and Piegza, a 6-1 setter from Poland, helped lead the Cougars to a 42-4 record and a third place finish at the national tournament this past fall. Both are sophomores. As a freshman, Kabalis was a second-team all-American. Melo said both are deserving of the honors, but couldn’t have known it without the help of their teammates.

“They did a great job for us but they probably wouldn’t have done it without their teammates,” she said. “That was one thing they learned this year and that is to play as a team. The awards come as consequences.”

Both players were also named to the national tournament all-tournament team. Kabalis was selected as the tournament’s top defensive player. The two sophomores also earned recognition by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, earning AVCA first team all-American honors.

Melo said both players made huge strides this season both on and off the court. Melo led the nation in kills per game and is just one of nine Cougars to finish with over 1,000 kills in her career at WNCC.

“I think Kalei matured as a player, not just from last year but as the season went on,” she said. “She is a very talented player who can make a difference in any team and as she started to play more for her team and teammates, she was unstoppable and fun to watch.”

Melo said Piegza also excelled. Peigza was one of the leaders in the nation in setting and hitting efficiency. She also missed three weeks of the season due to a knee injury.

“This year I think Sabi became way more comfortable with the team and with her role as a leader,” she said. “I think that made a huge difference in her. Sabi is very quiet and shy, which is not a common characteristic for a setter. However, that was what made her so unique. She still found ways to lead this team in her own little way.”

Melo said the recruiting is going well in trying to replace, not only Kabalis and Piegza, but all six of the sophomores on this year’s team.

The accomplishments of Piegza and Kabalis will be motivation for the freshmen to work hard and try to realize those same accomplishments.

“I think we have a very talented freshmen class who wants to get better,” she said. “I think they will be working towards that same success.”

At the same time, Melo said it will be hard to replace this group of sophomores.

“I don’t think we can replace them because they are very unique kids,” Melo said. “I don’t think any of the sophomores can be replaced. Every single one of them brought something to the table that was theirs and that is hard to replace. Now, we just have to go find some more talented players and create a new culture for the program next year.”

Melo said all the sophomores will have opportunities to go on to play volleyball.

“I am extremely proud of them,” she said. “They did a great job for us and like I said, we can’t really replace them. They put their mark on this program. They all have great opportunities. We are going to get them in their visits after the holidays and see what happens. I am very happy for them. They deserve all the recognition they are getting.”

The entire NJCAA all-American first team includes: Marketa Hanzlova of North Idaho, Jessica Peacock of Southern Idaho, Katja Stepanova and Patricia Figueiredo of Missouri-West Plains, Erika Charry Ramirez of Salt Lake, Celeste Bonter and Stephanie Figueroa of Iowa Western, Cinthya Roberto of Blinn, Sandra Montoya of Miami Dade, and Deanna Shaw of Eastern Utah,

Three other Region IX players earned either NJCAA second team or honorable mention all-American honors. They included Brunna Kronbauer of Northeastern Junior College and Konefesi Vaisigano of Casper College earning second team honors, while Tatyanna Lukyaneko garnered honorable mention honors.

Softball signings at UCMC

University of Central Missouri announced their early signings of softball players and included are two WNCC players Katie Groves and Adena Hagen. Read the story at the following link:
http://www.ucmo.edu/athletics/softball/09-10news/Jens_2011_signings.cfm

Balza leadsPenn State volleyball to Final Four

Fatima Balza knows what it is like to play in a Final Four having done it twice when she was a member of the Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team.

Now, Balza gets to play in the NCAA Division I Final Four as Penn State will be vying for its third straight NCAA national title. The Nittany Lions swept through regionals with wins over Florida (25-12, 25-18, 25-21) and then California 25-18, 25-17, 25-22 in the regional finals to advance to the National semi-finals. The semi-finals will be held Dec. 17 and 19 in Tampa, Fla.

Penn State, 36-0, will face Hawaii, 31-2, in one of the semi-finals. The other semi-finals will pit Minnesota, 28-8, against Texas, 28-1. Balza said it feels great to be playing in yet another Final Four. Balza helped WNCC win a national title in 2007 and then finish third in 2008.

“Playing in the final four means a lot to me and Its the dream of many volleyball players,” Balza said. “Coming from a Junior College, I feel so lucky to have signed with Penn State. It is amazing to be part of one of the best 4 teams in the country.”

Balza was a major contributor to the Nittany Lions unblemished season this season. In the win over Florida on Friday, Balza led the team in blocks with four. Then, in the regional final against California, the 6-foot-2 middle hitter tallied five blocks to lead the team. Balza also finished with three kills, including hammering home a kill to seal the second set.

The win against California was also Nittany Lions 100^th straight match victory. It also gave head coach Russ Rose his 999^th career win.

“Winning 100 consecutive matches represents the hard work of everyone on the team from the coaches and players,” Balza said. “This program is getting stronger every year. We are now in second place among all sports, either female or male, with wins in a row.”

The Nittany Lions are now two wins from notching their third straight national title. Balza said they need to play with high energy to accomplish that. It will also be Balza’s second national title after winning a national title in junior college in 2007.

“I think the most important key for us to win a national title is work together and keep the energy on the court,” she said. “We have a lot of talent on our team but sometimes we are so casual when we play and that is why other teams get close to us doing games. We need to play together with energy.”

Balza said she has made the transition to Division I volleyball. At first, though, it was difficult. Balza has started several matches for Penn State. She has played in 107 of the 113 sets and has 94 kills and 153 blocks on the season. She is hitting at a 37.9 percent clip.

“It was a surprise to start right away,” she said. “I struggled during the season in some games and I did not get to start. It wasn't an easy path but, nevertheless, I always believe in myself and in my potential as a volleyball player.

“When you play for one of the best teams in the country the effort always has to be good. Being lazy is not an option for anybody on this team. I have put a lot of work into practice. I'm not as physical as some of my teammates, and for this reason I need to work harder.”

Penn State departs for the national semi-finals on Tuesday. The contests will be carried live on ESPN2 as well as ESPN 360 on the Internet. The final will be carried on ESPN2 on Saturday.

“We leave Tuesday after practice and everybody is excited about being in the Final Four,” Balza said.

Harlem Globetrotters playing at WNCC Cougar Palace Jan. 6

Coming off the most successful year in the franchise’s illustrious history, with a record-breaking 62 box offices records and over two million smiling fans, the iconic Harlem Globetrotters are primed to showcase their eye-popping 2010 World Tour in Scottsbluff on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010, with the wholesome family entertainment known worldwide for thrilling fans young and old and making cherished family memories.

The last time the Globetrotters were in Scottsbluff was 2006 and played to a standing room audience.

Sponsored by Campbell Soup Company, Spalding, and America’s Best Contacts and Eyeglasses, the Harlem Globetrotters will take the court at the Cougar Palace on Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $24.00 and are available online at www.ticketweb.com. Individual ticket information can also be found on the Harlem Globetrotters’ official Web site: www.harlemglobetrotters.com, as well as info on group and scout tickets.

Now in their 84^th consecutive season of touring the world, the Globetrotters’ high-flying show features some of the most extraordinary athletes and entertainers on the planet – including Big Easy Lofton and Flight Time Lang, who starred in the Emmy Award-winning CBS reality hit, The Amazing Race; the always hilarious Special K Daley; dribbling magician Scooter Christensen; and ball handling wizards Handles Franklin and Ant Atkinson.

Sports Illustrated praised it as “the sports equivalent of comfort food,” in its March 2009 feature article on the Globetrotters titled, Still Crazy After All These Years.

“The Harlem Globetrotters are the epitome of world-class family fun,” says Michael Kenney, the Globetrotters’ senior vice president, live event marketing. “You’ll want to get your tickets now for an experience the whole family will be talking about for years to come.”

The Globetrotters will perform nearly 270 shows in over 200 cities in 44 states, the District of Columbia, five Canadian provinces and Puerto Rico through the first week of May 2010.

The Original Harlem Globetrotters have played in 120 countries on six continents, entertaining over 130 million fans and crossing barriers between cultures, societies and people from all walks of life. The Globetrotters are one of only six teams to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. For the latest news and information about the Harlem Globetrotters, and to purchase team merchandise, visit the Globetrotters’ official Web site: www.harlemglobetrotters.com.

WNCC's Morimoto, Puttergill each nails four treys, tops Colby 89-54

Yuki Morimoto and Tayler Puttergill each connected on four 3-pointers to help the Western Nebraska Community College women's basketball team roll over Colby Community College 89-54 win Colby Community College Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.

Morimoto and Puttergill finished the night with 14 points apiece as Morimot0, the redshirt freshman from Japan was 4 0f 7 from the 3-point arc, while also dishing out six assists. Puttergill was a perfect 4 of 4 from beyond the arc, while also grabbing three rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.

Not to be outdone, Thais Pinto led all scorers with 22 points on 11 of 14 shooting from the paint. PInto also grabbed seven rebounds and recorded four blocked shots.

Stormye Everett also finished with a double-double, collecting 14 points and 11 rebounds. Everett also had two assists in the contest.

Everett, who had all her points in the first half as the Cougars held a commanding 44-14 halftime lead, said the team played alright, but could have played for the full 40 minutes. Colby scored 40 points in the second half.

"We had better games. second half was kind of shaky. We didn't play as well as we did in the first half, but overall I think we did pretty well as a team in executing our offense and playing defense," she said. "We should have kept playing the whole 40 minutes and that is kind of the trouble we have been having the whole year. Once we get over not playing for 40 minutes, we will be fine in not allowing teams so many points in a half."

The Cougars definitely controlled the tempo of the game. WNCC opened up the contest as they moved a 4-4 game into a a 21-5 in just four minutes of action as Everett two offensive putbacks. Morimoto then heated up from the 3-point area, nailing two of her three treys.

Pinto, however, did a lot of the damage in the first half as the 6-foot-7 freshman had her way underneath the bucket as she scored as will. Pinto had 12 of her game-high 22 points in the opening period to help the Cougars to the 44-14 halftime lead.

The second half was a different story as the Trojans stayed with the Cougars point-for-point. WNCC did out-score the Trojans 45-40, but it was a a 3-point shooting contest for both teams as they combined on 14 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes. Each team connected on seven treys each. The Cougars held Colby without a long-range bucket in the first half as the Trojans went 0 of 5. In the second half, Colby was 7 of 21, while WNCC was 7 - 10 for 70 percent.

Everett said that their 3-point shooting was awesome in the game.

"They [the 3-point shooters] had open shots and they got good looks from us rotating the ball," she said. "They shots weren't rushed unlike some of the three points in previous games. We took our time."

Everett said when the 3-point shooting is on, that makes the team even more dangerous in the paint.

"That is a really good sign for this team because people think we just have an inside game with Thais, our 6-7 girl," she said. "Once we start moving the ball inside and outside that makes our game pretty much unstoppable."

Morimoto's netted two early treys in the second half, the second and her last of the game made the score 62-30. WNCC wasn't through in nailing treys as Puttergill, who had two dramatic 3-pointers on Friday, netted her first to make the score 67-34. A few moments later, Scottsbluff High graduate Madison Keller nailed her first 3-pointer of the game.

Puttergill then connected on two more 3-pointers as she hit one from the corner and then buried a long-range jumper from the wing to make the scorfe 79-42. Puttergills' final trey game as the 5-foot-10 Mullen High graduate buried four fourth of the game to make the score 87-52.

While the team was on fire shooting the ball, finishing the game at 47 percent including 59 percent shooting in the second half, the team also dominated on the boards. The Cougars out-rebounded the Trojans 60-28.

WNCC, 13-2, will now be off until after the first of the year when they travel to Lamar Community College on Jan. 15.

First Game

Prep 28 42 -- 70

Garden City 22 23 -- 45

AIR FORCE PREP

Cherae Medina 23, Bryanna Mueller 13, Jacko Salas 3, Testa Davis 5, Harriet Laking 2, Caitlin Boal 24.

GARDEN CITY

Cgeree Freeman 19, Aubrica Robins 6, Mansela Rodriguez 12, Deirdre Mays 8.

Second Game

Colby 14 40 -- 54

WNCC (13-2) 44 45 -- 89

COLBY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

TAasha Wagoner 13, Danisha COle 12, Alecia Palm 14, Destin Stewart 2, Tamara Williams 7, Crystal Kinderknecht 6.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Stormye Everett 14, Shelby Campbell 2, Yuki Morimoto 14, Ariana BRown 4, Tiffany Moorer 2, Carolina Alves 8, Madison Keller 3, Michelle Glaze 1, Thais Pinto 22, Khayla Gladney 5.

WNCC outscores Garden City 54-20 in second half to pick up 12th win of the season

Yuki Morimoto had two special fans in the crowd Friday night and she definitely put on a show, scoring 27 points in leading the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team to an 89-47 win over Garden City Community College in the second day of the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic.

Morimoto’s solid play brought smiles from her father, Hiromi, and brother, Hiroki, as the two flew in from Japan to watch her play. She, or her teammates, definitely didn’t disappoint as they played one of their best halves of the year, outscoring the Broncbusters 54-20 in the second half to pick up their 12^th win of the season.

The Cougars will look to finish off the first semester Saturday as they face Colby Community College at 3 p.m. Garden City will battle Air Force Prep at 1 p.m. of the tournament.

But it wasn’t totally Morimoto that stood out as she might of scored 27 points, but she also registered six assists and four steals. Three other Cougars finished in double figures for the night as Stormye Everett had 14 points, followed by Thais Pinto and Tiffany Moorer with 10 points each.

The Cougars also received a big lift from the bench as they out-scored Garden City 31-13. Leading the charge off the bench was Mullen High School graduate Tayler Puttergill, who cashed in on eight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers to finish the game.

The Cougars second half spurt was one of the Cougars best of the year, and Puttergill said head coach Dave Harnish told them at intermission that they needed to come out strong.

“We came out slow but we ended up going the pace that we needed to beat them,” she said. “Coach told us at halftime that we needed to go out there and just play. We weren’t making shots in the first half. Then, the second half we came out and played really well.”

WNCC held a slim 35-27 lead at halftime after being up 31-17 with five minutes to play on seven points from Moorer.

The second half opened with a flurry as WNCC ran off the eight of the first 10 points as Morimoto and Kistler each recorded two buckets each. The Cougars kept executing on offense and defense throughout the half as Kistler hit another bucket with 15 minutes left to put them up 51-23.

Garden City tried coming back, slicing the lead to 56-40, but Everett nailed back-to-back buckets. After a free throw from Garden City, WNCC scored 10 straight points, including four points from Morimoto and six points from Pinto.

WNCC continued playing well as Puttergill, who was a post at Mullen, came up big down the stretch nailing back-to-back 3-pointers on the right wing. Puttergill said it is change playing a guard position from high school.

“It felt really good to hit those threes. I have been working on my shot quite a bit, so it is good to know that hard work pays off,” she said. “This is definitely a change from going from a post in high school to a guard because I am not used to playing guard as much. Our coach didn’t like us shooting threes in high school because we always had to pound it into the paint.”

The Cougars shooting in the second half was a marked improvement from the first half, where they shot 32 percent. In the second half, they blistered the nets for 53 percent shooting. WNCC also canned 7 of 12 3-pointers. The Cougars also dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Broncbusters 56-34, led by Khayla Gladney and Michelle Glaze with six rebounds each.

Garden City was led in scoring by 6-foot-4 Mansela Rodriguez with 18 points and eight rebounds.

First Game
Prep 33 31 – 64
Colby 26 27 – 53
AIR FORCE PREP
Cherae Medina 19, Bryanna Mueller 7, Camille Thompson 3, Jacko Salas 4, Testa Davis 12, Alannah Staver 1, Harriet Lakind 5, Caitlin Boal 13
COLBY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Tasha Wagoner 5, Danisha Cole 21, Aliecia Palm 6, Destini Stewart 3, Tamara Williams 4, Crystal Kinderknecht 14.

Second Game
Garden City 27 20 -- 47
WNCC 35 54 – 89
GARDEN CITY
Cgeree Freeman 3, Aileen Gonzalez 3, Aubrica Robins 11, Myranda Monroe 2, Jasmine Troup 4, LeMesia Abbott 2, Mansela Rodriguez 18, Victoria Naylor 4.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 5, Stormye Everett 14, Yuki Morimoto 27, Ariane Brown 6, Tiffany Moorer 10, Carolina Alves 3, Tayler Puttergill 8, Michelle Glaze 4, Thais Pinto 10, Khayla Gladney 2.

WNCC women top Air Force Prep 85-66 in first day of Holiday Classic

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team used a strong first half in collecting its 11^th win of the season with an 85-66 win over Air Force Prep in the first day of the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic at Cougar Palace.

The Cougars, in the win, received a balanced scoring output in shooting 47 percent from the field. Stormye Everett led all scorers with 24 points followed by Yuki Morimoto with 18 and Amber Kistler with 11 points.

WNCC, who are ranked No. 18 in the NJCAA polls, will look to add another win Friday in the second day of the Holiday Classic. The Cougars will face Garden City Community College at 7 p.m. The first game of the night will have Colby Community College facing Air Force Prep at 5 p.m.

As much as the offense sparkled Thursday night, the defense struggled in the second half allowing Air Force Prep 39 points. WNCC held a 44-27 lead at intermission and completely dominated play in the opening half.

“There is no question that the Prep school is a very solid team and they have got a lot better than the last time we played them. In the first half we did play very solid,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “Defensively we did a good job taking the penetration away and offensively we made some shots and executed well.

“It really wasn’t the offense tonight in scoring 85 points; it was defensively where we didn’t have that same intensity the second half. We allowed too many penetrations and too many buckets. The transition was terrible the second half after we got up by 23 or 24 points. I am disappointed that we didn’t maintain and gradually build the lead up. It is something that we have had a problem with. I thought we did a better job last weekend and tonight we didn’t do a very good job with the same intensity that we had the first half.”

WNCC definitely was on its game in the first half, roaring to an 8-0 lead behind 3-points by Everett and Morimoto. The Cougars built the lead to double digits, 17-7 on back-to-back buckets by Tiffany Moorer.

The Cougars kept looking sharp, pushing the lead to 15 points with five minutes to play, 38-23 on buckets by Kistler, Everett, Morimoto and Moorer. WNCC led 44-27 at intermission.

WNCC played well early on in the second half as Thais Pinto scored five of the first nine points for a 53-35 lead. The Cougars kept executing offensively as Kistler nailed a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 62-39.

That was when the defense changed gears and the Prep offense started to make a comeback. The Huskies went on a 16-6 run, cutting the lead to 68-56. Air Force Prep, however, never could get the lead to single digits as Kister nailed a clutch bucket and then Everett and Morimoto each had 3-pointers to seal the win.

The Cougars shot 47 percent for the game compared to 35 percent for Prep. WNCC also out-rebounded Air Force 55-37 as Everett had nine boards, followed by Morimoto with seven and Pinto with six.

Besides the three Cougars in double figures, the Cougars received a strong game from Pinto with nine points followed by Moorer with eight and Carolina Alves with five.

Air Force Prep was led by Caitlin Boal with 23 points followed by Cherae Medina with 17 and Testa Davis with 14.

WNCC, 11-2, will need to play tougher Friday against Garden City Community College. The Cougars defeated GCCC 70-67 two weeks ago.

“It is important for us to worry about not who we play, but to take care of what we are doing,” Harnish said. “I thought last week we did a good job of playing for 40 minutes. Tonight we didn’t do that and we are playing a very good Garden City team tomorrow [Friday] and if we don’t play for 40 minutes we are going to struggle.”

Air Force Prep 27 39 – 66
WNCC (11-2) 44 41 – 85
AIR FORCE PREP
Cherae Medina 17, Bryanna Mueller 2, Testa Davis 14, Alannah Staver 2, Elizabeth Hicks 2, Harriet Lakind 6, Caitlin Boal 23.
WNCC
Amber Kistler 11, Stormye Everett 24, Shelby Campbell 4, Yuki Morimoto 18, Ariane Brown 2, Tiffany Moorer 8, Carolina ALves 5, Kelli Culver 2, Thais Pinto 9, Khayla Gladney 2.

Balza ready to lead Penn State volleyball to Final Four

Fatima Balza, former WNCC volleyball player, is a key ingredient in Penn State's run for a national title. Here is a exceptional story on Balza from the Collegian newspaper with comments from WNCC coach Giovana Melo. The link follows.

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2009/12/10/balza_makes_impact_for_lions.aspx

WNCC women host Holiday Classic beginning Thursday

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team will be looking to finish off the first semester in style as they prepare to host the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic beginning Thursday.

The No. 18 Cougars will begin the Classic Thursday against Air Force Prep at 7 p.m. Action will then swing to multiple games on Friday and Saturday. WNCC will face Garden City Community College on Friday at 7 p.m. with Air Force Prep playing Colby Community College at 5 p.m. Saturday’s action begins at 1 p.m. with Garden City taking on the Prep school with WNCC facing Garden City at 3 p.m.

For Cougar Ariane Brown, a freshman from Colorado Springs, playing Air Force Prep will be special since she played for Air Force Prep and their coach Kelli Johnson. She is excited to be playing against her former team.

“Playing against my coach is different, but I know she is a really good coach,” Brown said. “She is capable of having her team come back on us so we always have to be on our toes and playing the whole 40 minutes and not let up.”

It will be the second time this year that WNCC and Air Force Prep hooked up. In the first encounter, WNCC escaped with a 74-63 win at a tournament at the Prep School in Colorado Springs.

WNCC also faced Garden City and Colby earlier in the season. The Cougars topped Colby 87-68 in the team’s season-opening contest. They then survived against Garden City 70-67 at the Thanksgiving Classic in Garden City, Kan.

Brown said they have to play their game in the rematch against all three teams.

“We came out pretty slow against Garden City. So, I know we will come out on top of our game,” she said. “They have a few shooters so we have to stay with them. I know No. 3 [Cheree Freeman] hit a lot of threes in the first half, so we have to protect the ball.

“The Prep school came back in the second half on us as well, but we also fouled them a lot so we just need to not reach. I think we have a lot more speed and talent to win by more then what we did the first time.”

Since the Cougars lost to Seward County Community College 63-62 at the Thanksgiving Classic, they have been playing well. Brown said that loss taught the players just how hard they have to play to win.

“Pretty much we need to keep playing like we have been playing in the last games,” she said. “Defense is key along with playing our game. As long as we stay in our offense and work the ball it will be the key for us to win. “

After this weekend’s contests, the Cougars will be back in action Jan. 15 at Lamar Community College. Brown said it would mean a lot to finish off the first semester on a 6-game winning streak.

“It would be a great finish to the first semester,” she said. “Then, to come back after the semester break knowing that we only have two losses would be great and gives us something to keep on rolling.”

NOTES:

· Thursday’s basketball promotion is Youth Basketball Night as all area youth (K-12^th) will get in free when they wear a basketball jersey of their choice. Promotions for the rest of the tournament include Christmas pictures with Buddy, the Cougar between games on Friday, and then Girl Scout Day on Saturday afternoon.

· WNCC coach Dave Harnish now has 584 career wins and is sixth overall in wins in the NJCAA of active coaches. Kirkwood Community College’s Kim Muhl, who is also in her 22^nd year at the school, is just ahead of Harnish. Muhl entered the season with 587 wins.

· WNCC freshman Yuki Morimoto is among the leaders in Region IX after the first regional report was released Wednesday. Morimoto is third in 3-point shooting at 59.1 percent, first in free throw shooting at 93.3 percent, third in assists at 4.5 per game, 13^th in steals at 2.3 per game, and 37^th in scoring at 10.5 points a game. The complete regional report can be downloaded at regionix.wncc.edu.

WNCC men fall to Sheridan College

SHERIDAN, Wyo. – The Sheridan College Generals used a strong second half to register an 82-69 win over Western Nebraska Community College Saturday in the Holiday Inn Classic in Sheridan, Wyo.

It was the second straight defeat for the Cougars, 9-2, after running off nine straight wins.

The Cougars trailed 35-34 at halftime but shot just 40 percent in the second half, while Sheridan blistered the nets for 60 percent. WNCC shot 41 percent for the game. The difference in the contest, however, was free throw shooting where the Cougars were just 10 of 11 from the stripe. Sheridan was 23 of 28, including 14 of 17 in the second half.

WNCC was led in scoring by Francisco Cruz. Cruz finished with 25 points, including three 3-pointers and going 6 of 6 from the free throw line. Geddes Robinson finished with a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds. Also collecting double digit scoring was Brylle Kamen with 11 points.

Sheridan had four players in double figures. Sophomore J.R. Cadot finished with 22 points to lead the 9-1 Generals.

The Cougars will now be off until Dec. 29 when they travel to the Indian Hills Invite in Ottumwa, Iowa.

WNCC (9-3) 34 35 – 69

Sheridan (9-1) 35 47 – 82

SHERIDAN

Jarrell Crayton 16, Charlton Wilson 10, Kendrick Morse 8, Antoine Procter 16, JR Cadot 22, Omar McDade 3, Idris Lasisi 7.

WNCC

Geoffrey Firmin 8, Saul Torres 2, Francisco Cruz 25, Brylle Kamen 11, Geddes Robinson 20, O’Rion Hughes 3.

WNCC women pick up 10th win of the season over McCooki

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team shot 55 percent from the field and had three players in double figures in rolling to an impressive 86-52 win over McCook Community College Saturday at Cougar Palace in the final day of the Colorado/Nebraska Showcase.

The Cougars connected on 7 of 15 3-pointers, three of which came from Bayard graduate Amber Kistler, and blistered the net for 47 first-half points to pick up their 10^th win of the season.

Three Cougars finished in double figures. Yuki Morimoto paced WNCC with 16 points, followed by Stormye Everett with 15 and Kistler with 14.

Everett, who had 11 points in the first half, said they came ready to play against a McCook team that topped Lamar and Otero earlier in the tournament.

“I think we played really well,” Everett said. “We did a good job executing our offense and getting the rebounds on defense, and rebounding was our major struggles this year.”

It didn’t take WNCC long to start showcasing an offensive scheme that utilized both the inside and outside game. Thais Pinto connected on two pin-point shots from inside. Then, the Cougars defense allowed the Cougars to get some easy buckets off of steals as Everett recorded back-to-back steals for points and a 14-3 lead.

Moments later, Kistler connected on WNCC’s first of seven 3-pointers, nailing a trey with 11 minutes to play to put the Cougars up 22-10. WNCC didn’t slow up after that as Kistler had seven straight points as she nailed another 3-pointer and then drove the lane for another bucket for a 31-15 lead.

Everett followed with a 3-pointer and then Morimoto drilled a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 43-21 before settling for a 47-27 halftime lead.

Everett said the offense was clicking in the first half.

“We were hitting a lot more of our outside shots that we weren’t hitting in previous games,” she said. “Our posts were also working harder to get open and it was easier to get the ball to them.”

While the Cougars were hitting for 55 percent of their shots in the first half, they were even more deadly in the second half, especially beyond the arc. WNCC shot 54 percent from the field in the second 20 minutes, and were 60 percent from behind the 3-point arc as Kistler nailed her third trey of the game to put the Cougars up 69-36.

Michelle Glaze got into the 3-point accuracy as she canned a long-range shot to make the score 76-40. Then, Mullen graduate Tayler Puttergill showcased her long-range ability with a 3-pointer with two minutes left in the contest.

Everett said that ever since the team lost to Seward County Community College last week, they learned what it takes to win. They have playing with that renewed jubilance on offense and defense. It showed as WNCC had 37 defensive stops in the game.

“That game inspired us a lot because we played hard against Seward in that we hustled in the second half [of that loss],” she said. “That game showed us that we are capable of getting rebounds and running plays that we need to do to win. We are trying to play every game like that.”

WNCC also received plenty of balance off the bench. Khayla Gladney finished with eight points, while Glaze had seven points, and tiffany Moorer and Thais Pinto had six points each. Everett led the team with five rebounds, while Kistler and Moorer each had four boards.

McCook shot just 25 percent from the game and was 6 of 25 from the 3-point arc. Britney Bunker and Elle Hiester led the Indians with 10 points each.

In the early game, Otero Junior College outscored lamar 46-22 in the second half to register a 77-55 win. Kari Ameling finished with a double-double in the win, finishing with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

WNCC will next be in action next week when they host the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic Thursday through Saturday. The Cougars will entertain Air Force Prep, Garden City Community College and Colby Community College.

Lamar 33 22 – 55

Otero 31 46 – 77

LAMAR

Morgan Smith 19, Kanisha Cooks 7, Brittany Rayford 8, Ashley Torres 3, Krystina George 7, Brianna Hopkins 1, Nicole Midder 3, Jackie Eberhard 4, Emily Williams 3.

OTERO

Angie Andenucio 3, Desiree Marnufo 3, Chelsea Rotondo 9, Tracy Fosterling14, Ashley Jelly 4, Myecha Taylor 4, Kaitlyn Lowen 2, Christian Anderson 2, Kari Ameling 26, Melinda Perry 6, Upuia Fui 2.

McCook 27 25 – 52

WNCC (10-2) 47 39 – 86

MCCOOK

Sierra Guy 7, Ellie Hiester 10, Britney Bunker 10, Emmalee Fladland 2, Jacqueline Lovato 2, Donell Betts 7, Skylar Johnson 4, Julia Hale 4, Morgan Spencer 3, lauren Woods 1.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Amber Kistler 14, Stormye Everett 15, Shelby Campbell 2, Yuki Morimoto 16, Tiffany Moorer 6, Tynetta Turner 1, Carolina Alves 2, Tayler Puttergill 5, Michelle Glaze 7, Thais Pinto 6, Kelli Culver 4, Khayla Gladney 8.

WNCC men fall to Gillette

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team’s nine-game winning streak came to a halt at the Holiday Inn Classic in Sheridan, Wyo.

The Cougars outshot Gillette College from the field, but the Pronghorns were sizzling from the free throw line, connecting on 18 of 20 free throws as Gillette registered a 76-67 win Friday in the first day of the tournament.

It was the second time in a week that the two squads met. Last week, the Cougars earned a hard fought 80-76 win. In Friday’s contest, WNCC was a dismal 4 of 10 from the charity stripe after shooting nearly 90 percent from the free throw line the last two nights.

“We did a poor job of keying in on their best player,” WNCC coach Russ Beck said. “We were not solid defensively and were unable to play with the intensity required to win.”

Gillette’s DeJuan Wright lit up the Cougars for 29 points. The Pronghorns also took advantage of 17 WNCC turnovers.

WNCC led just once in the contest at 6-4 on two Geddes Robinson free throws. After that, Gillette took control, taking a 23-17 lead and pushed the lead to 41-29 at halftime.

In the second half, WNCC sliced the lead to seven points on several occasions, but couldn’t cut the deficit any closer as the Cougars suffered their second defeat of the season.

WNCC was paced by Geddes Robinson with 20 points and Francisco Cruz with 17.

The Cougars, 9-2, will look to get back on the winning track Saturday against the host team Sheridan College at 5 p.m. Sheridan, 8-1, was a 114-80 winner against Lake Region State College.

WNCC (9-2) 32 35 – 67

Gillette (7-3) 41 35 – 76

WNCC women register 85-47 win over Lamar

Thais Pinto registered a double-double and the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team opened up a tight ball game to down Lamar Community College 85-47 in the second day of the Colorado/Nebraska Showcase on Friday at Cougar Palace.

Pinto, who finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds, was just one of three Cougars to finish in double figures for the night. Stormye Everett led all players with 14 points, and Hemingford graduate Shelby Campbell finished with 10 points, including 6 of 10 shooting from the charity stripe.

Pinto said the team played much better than in Thursday’s win over Otero Junior College.

“We played very good,” the 6-foot-7 freshman said. “We played better defense and rebounded. Coach told us we had to play 40 minutes. We played good tonight, but we can play better.”

WNCC coach Dave Harnish was pleased that team played hard throughout the contest, something that was lacking in Thursday’s win.

“I thought we played for the majority of the game,” he said. “I thought we played more under control and made better decisions then the past few games. We didn’t turn the ball over as much so we made the right decisions tonight.”

The Cougars got the butterflies out of their system Thursday night and played a strong contest against Lamar. They will have to play even stronger Saturday in the final day of the of the tournament as they take on McCook Community College at 3 p.m. The contest will be a battle of the tournament’s unbeatens as McCook registered a huge 66-48 win over Otero in the early game.

“Hopefully we will continue to play like we have,” Harnish said. “I think we are learning how to compete and we have to do that tomorrow. McCook is playing very well and they had a big win against Otero today.”

WNCC didn’t start the contest strong as Lamar held an early 13-9 lead on back-to-back buckets by Kanisha Cooks. WNCC quickly erased Lamar’s lead as Yuki Morimoto nailed two 3-pointers to put the Cougars up 22-15.

Lamar stuck around, though, trailing 25-22 after Morgan Smith stole the ball for an easy lay-up. After that, the Cougars took control, outscoring the Runnin’ Lopes 15-1 over the last five minutes of the half to take a 40-23 lead into the locker room.

The second half was all WNCC as the Cougars outscored the Lopes 45-24. WNCC went on a 13-0 run to push the lead to 76-39, as Everett connected on one 3-pointer and Kelli Culver rattled home two 3-pointers to help the Cougars to the easy win.

WNCC had one of their best rebounding nights, out boarding the Lopes 58-31. Pinto led all rebounders with 13 points, while Everett had nine boards, and Khayla Gladney had five rebounds.

Culver , Gladney and Yuki Morimoto also had nice games. Culver finished with nine points on two 3-pointers, while Gladney and Morimoto each had eight points. Morimoto finished with two 3-pointers and six assists, while Gladney came off the bench to score on 3 of 5 shooting. The Cougars had 42 points from their bench players on the night.

In the early game, the McCook Indians shot 38 percent from the field and hit 21 of 29 free throws to take down Otero 66-50. The Indians were paced by Donell Betts’ 18 points and three 3-pointers, while Britney Bunker finished with 16 points.

Otero shot just 24 percent from the field, including a dismal 14 percent (3 of 21) from the 3-point area. The Rattlers were led by Rose Harvey-Akes and Tracy Fosterling each with nine points.

McCook 31 35 – 66

Otero 14 36 – 50

MCCOOK

Sierra Guy 4, Ellie Hiester 5, Britney Bunker 16, Emmalee Fladland 9, Jacqueline Lovato 2, Donell Betts 18, Skylar Johnson 7, Julia Hale 5.

OTERO

Rose Harvey-Akes 9, Angie Andemucio 3, Desiree Marrudo 2, Chelsea Rotondo 8, Ashley Jelly 3, Tracy Fosterling 9, Ashlynn Steffensen 3, Christian Anderson 1, Kari Ameling 4, Melinda Perry 8.

Lamar 23 24 – 47

WNCC 40 45 -- 85

LAMAR

Morgan Smith 7, Kanisha Cooks 4, Brittney Rayford 11, Ashley Torres 3, Krystina George 4, Brianna Hopkins 2, Nicole Midder 7, Jackie Eberhard 1, Emily Williams 8.

WNCC

Amber Kistler 2, Stormye Everett 14, Shelby Campbell 10, Yuki Morimoto 8, Ariane Brown 4, Tiffany Moorer 8, Carolina Alves 1, Madison Keller 2, Tayler Puttergill 2, Michelle Glaze 6, Thais Pinto 11, Kelli Culver 9, Khayla Gladney 8.

WNCC open home campaign with 68-50 win

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team showed why they are one of the top defensive teams in the nation Thursday night in the first day of the Colorado/Nebraska Showcase.

The Cougars ran out to a 13-0 lead and pushed the lead to 43-20 at halftime in securing a 68-50 win over the Rattlers at Cougar Palace.

The win lifted the Cougars to 8-2 on the season. WNCC will look to keep winning in the home tournament as they take on Lamar Community College Friday at 7 p.m. Lamar fell to McCook Community College 70-67 in the early game. McCook will battle Otero at 5 p.m.

WNCC head coach Dave Harnish said they played well in the first half as the two sophomores Amber Kistler and Stormye Everett combined for 25 of the team’s 43 first half points. Everett had 16 of her game-high 25 points.

“I don’t know if that was our best first half, but I think we learned from the second half against Seward [a game the Cougars lost] of how to play the game and I think we carried that over to the first half tonight,” Harnish said. “I thought we competed well and did things well offensively and defensively. If you don’t have the mental concentration, which we lost at halftime, it turned in a very sloppy second half. I am disappointed of how we finished the game. I think that is why we lost against better teams is because we don’t play for 40 minutes and we were thankful to have a big lead at halftime.”

The Cougars started their first home game of the season like world beaters, racing to a 13-0 lead behind 3-pointers by Everett and Yuki Morimoto. Otero didn’t cash in its first points until four minutes into the contest; yet that lone bucket was nothing that rattled the Cougars as they went on a 13-3 run to lead 26-5 with 10 minutes left in the half.

WNCC kept executing well offensively as Everett had six of the final 10 points of the half, while Kistler grabbed a defensive rebound and raced the length of the court for a layup for a 43-20 lead after the first 20 minutes.

Harnish said the big reason for the strong start was they learned how to play hard in the second half against Seward, a game they lost by a single point.

“We were down by nine at halftime against Seward and came out and played a very good second half with a chance to win the game, and they just carried that play over to tonight,” he said. “We have to worry about ourselves and if we come out and compete, rebound and play defense, we can be a pretty good team. If we don’t do that regardless of who we play, we won’t be very good.”

The Cougars second half play was sporadic as the Rattlers outscored the Cougars 30-25. Otero quickly took command early scoring cutting the lead to 45-25, but a 3-pointer by Kistler ignited the Cougars. After that, WNCC pushed the lead to 61-34 with seven minutes left. WNCC kept the lead around the 20-point mark as all 14 players suited up saw action in the contest.

Everett led the No. 18 Cougars with 25 points and six rebounds, while Kistler had 13 points and five boards. Thais Pinto, the Cougars’ 6-foot-7 post player, finished the night with nine points, five rebounds and three blocks.

Otero was led by Chelsea Rotonado with 14 points followed by Melinda Perry with eight points and seven rebounds.

Harnish is hoping his team plays better against a Lamar team that trailed McCook by 10 points late in the second half and sliced the lead to a single point with under 30 seconds to play before falling.

“We have played 10 games now and it should be something that they should know,” he said. “it has been very difficult to get this team to play for a full 40 minutes.”

First Game
McCook 70, Lamar 67
Lamar 31 36 – 67
McCook 37 33 – 70
LAMAR
Morgan Smith 8, Kanisha Cooks 17, Brittany Rayford 5 Krystina George 4, Brianna Hopkins 10, Jackie Eberhard 2, Emily Williams 21.
MCCOOK
Alexa Ward 2, Sierra Guy 2, Tiani Cole 1, Ellie Hiester 22, Britney Bunker 10, Emmalee Fladland 6, Jacqueline Lovato 2, Donell Betts 9, Skylar Johnson 7, Julia Hale 2, Lauren Woods 7.

Second Game
WNCC 68, Otero 50
Otero (8-2) 20 30 – 50
WNCC (8-2) 43 25 – 68
OTERO
Rose Harvey-Akers 6, Chelsea Ratondo 14, Kersten Jaramillo 2, Ashley Jelly 2, Myecha Taylor 3, Kaitlyn Lowen 5, Ashlynn Steffensen 2, Christian Anderson 2, Kari Ameling 2, Melinda Perry 8, Upuia Fui 2.
WNCC
Amber Kistler 13, Stormye Everett 25, Shelby Campbell 3, Yuki Morimoto 7, Ariane Brown 2, Tiffany Moorer 4, Tynetta Turner 2, Michelle Glaze 1, Thais Pinto 9, Kelli Culver 2.

WNCC women's basketball team set for home tournament beginning Thursday

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team has been road warriors for the past month.

Now, after nine games on the road, the No. 18 Cougars will be at home for the first time this season as they set to host the Colorado/Nebraska Showcase beginning Thursday at Cougar Palace.

WNCC, 7-2, will open Thursday Otero Junior College at 7 p.m., while McCook Community College will battle Lamar Community College at 5 p.m. The tournament continues through Saturday.

WNCC sophomore guard Amber Kistler said it feels great to be finally playing in front of the home crowd.

“It feels really good to be playing at home,” the Bayard graduate said. “We are used to playing here, practicing here. We are here all the time and we are excited to be playing in front of our home crowd and show them what we are all about.”

The Cougars feature a young squad this season. Kistler and Stormye Everett are the only sophomores on the team. Still, the Cougars have run to a 7-2 record this season. Kistler said the team learned plenty from their last game, a 62-61 loss to No. 22 Seward County Community College at the Thanksgiving Classic in Garden City, Kan.

“We have been playing pretty well. We get better every game,” she said. “This last game against Seward when we only lost by one, we learned a lot. We learned how to compete and go out there and play hard the whole game. We will take what we learned in that game and apply it to every game we play from now on and we should be good.”

Well the Cougars will receive a test, especially in their opening game against Otero Junior College. The Rattlers enter the contest with an 8-1 record. The Rattlers are averaging 75 points a game and have impressive wins against Central Wyoming, Frank Phillips, Barton County and Eastern Wyoming this season.

Kistler said they just need to play their game and not worry about the other team and they should be alright.

“We go into every game as it is just another game, and we just face it the same way,” she said. “We are going to play our game and hopefully we come out on top.”

If the Cougars are to come away with wins this weekend, they will need to play strong defense. The Cougars are 36^th in the nation in defense, allowing 60.11 points a game. WNCC is also scoring at an alarming rate, averaging 73 points a game, which is 44^th in the nation.

WNCC has three players averaging over double figures this year. Everett is averaging 12.75 points a game, while 6-foot-7 Thais Pinto is averaging 12.6 points a game. Yuki Morimoto, a 5-10 red-shirt freshman is averaging 10.1 points a game. Kistler is also making an impact this season, averaging 8.3 points a game, while freshman Tiffany Moorer is averaging 7.1 points a game.

After Thursday’s contest, the Cougars will face Lamar Community on Friday at 7 p.m. followed by a 3 p.m. contest Saturday against McCook Community College.

The Cougars will finish the first semester by hosting the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic Dec. 10 when Air Force Prep, Garden City Community College and Colby Community College come to town.

Tournament Schedule
Thursday, Dec. 3
5 p.m. – McCook vs. Lamar, 7 p.m. – WNCC vs. Otero

Friday, Dec. 4
5 p.m. – Otero vs. McCook, 7 p.m. – WNCC vs. Lamar

Saturday, Dec. 5
1 p.m. – Lamar vs. Otero, 3 p.m. – WNCC vs. McCook

WNCC men capture ninth straight win with defensive mastery over Lamar 73-47

The Western Nebraska Community College defense held Lamar Community College to 20 second-half points and coasted to their ninth straight win with an impressive 73-47 win Tuesday night at Cougar Palace.

What was really impressive with the win against Lamar, who won the Region IX tournament last year, is that the Runnin’ Lopes shot just 34 percent from the field, including 20 percent from the 3-point line. In contrast, WNCC shot a blistering 88.5 percent (23-of-26) from the free throw line. The Cougars also out-rebounded Lamar 49-26, including a 23-10 advantage on the offensive glass.

WNCC coach Russ Beck was pleased with the defensive effort, especially the second half.

“It is all energy and effort and you have to give credit to the guys,” he said. “Our team can be really disruptive when they want to. Our team can be one of the better defensive teams in the country if they desire to.”

It wasn’t until late in the first half that the Cougars defense picked it up another notch. Lamar just cut the lead to 24-21 on back-to-back buckets by Peter Milasinovic with five minutes left in the opening half. After that, the Cougars went on a 7-0 run highlighted by five points by Brylle Kamen, including an offensive putback that brought spirit to the team. WNCC went on to led 33-27 at the half.

WNCC put on a defensive show in the second half. Lamar sliced the lead to 38-30, but that was when the Cougars went on a 16-4 run to grab a 54-34 advantage with 10 minutes left in the half. Geddes Robinson did most of the damage during the stretch, scoring 11 of his game high 25 points, while Kamen had the other five points.

WNCC kept hunkering down on defense as they kept the margin around the 20-point margin the rest of the way, including hitting 8 of 9 of free throws to seal the Cougars ninth win of the season.

Robinson and Kamen, the two big guys in the paint, combined for 42 points and 16 rebounds inside. Kamen also nailed two 3-pointers on the night. Robinson had 25 points, while Kamen had 17 points. Beck said the big guys played well in the low post.

“We say that Lamar was playing behind them in the low post and anytime a team does that, you really want to work it to the inside,” he said. “Geddes Robinson is a very unique player. He is 6-5, 235 and he can handle the ball like a guard, but he can uproot you on the post. It is a blessing that we have him.”

Robinson connected on 8 of 14 field goals, but was a sizzling 9 of 10 from the free throw line. In fact, the whole team was making their free throws, which is something that really pleased Beck after the early season free throw shooting woes.

“Free throw shooting is something that we struggled with in the games that have been close. In the game against Gillette, we missed free throws down the stretch that made that a game. We have been spending a lot of time the past few days working on free throws quite a bit and it is good that it is paying off.”

Francisco Cruz joined Kamen and Robinson in the double figure scoring column, finishing with 16 points and two 3-pointers. Cruz was also a perfect 4-of-4 from the line, while Kamen was 5-of-6 from the striple.

WNCC, who received votes for the second straight week in the NJCAA national poll, will next be in action this weekend in Sheridan, Wyo. They will then be off until Dec. 29 when they compete in a New Year’s tournament in Iowa. Beck said they are going to continue to work hard on their defense.

“We are going to work on our defense, continue to work on our free throws, and try to eliminate our turnovers,” he said. “That is the one thing that I was not very happy with. I felt we turned the ball over way too much. Some of the turnovers was when they were being aggressive and got called for charges. I will take those turnovers, but the turnovers that we don’t get a shot on the rim are the ones I won’t accept.”

Lamar 27 20 – 47
WNCC (9-1) 33 40 – 73
LAMAR
Allen Tate 3, Arden Dennis 6, James Holmes 5, Jordan Hill 6, Scott Waller 8, Melvin Williams 5, Cameron Cosworh 6, Tidiame Diop 2, Peter Milasinovic 6.
WNCC
Geoffrey 6, Audre Marone 2, Saul Torres 2, O’Rion Hughes 1, Francisco Cruz 16, Al-Akeem Watson 4, Brylle Kamen 17, Geddes Robinson 25.